An independent pro-Indy modeller from Scotland, in love with his country and its railways.

Month: June 2014

The 4F locos were never especially common in Scotland, there being pretty much an abundance of 0-6-0 goods types north of the border, particularly within the LMS group.
Nevertheless, a batch was actually produced at St Rollox in 1924-5, ordered under the former Caledonian Order system as batch Y131. This group bore the running numbers 4177-4206. A further batch Y136 was built in 1928 at St Rollox (4467-76), but these adopted the by then standard left hand drive position whereas Y131 engines were traditional Midland right hand drive.
Bachmann’s first run of BR era 4Fs are of a similar specification to Y131 engines and purchase of one loco was justified for the purposes of Broomloan and Culreoch.

First task of course was to re-wheel the model to EM gauge, using the Gibson conversion. This was done entirely in accordance with the instructions. These are downloadable from the Gibson website and probably explain the job better than I could, so repetition here is superfluous.
The process was fairly easy as long as care was taken and the only deviation I made was to use Lanarkshire Model Supplies excellent etched rods. I built these as jointed rods and found them to be very user friendly with no dramas whatsoever. Quartering was done by eye and though it’s fairly close, some adjustment will be required. I suspect the model will need a proper layout test on Wharfeside to get the wrinkles out though.
With the mechanical side addressed, it was time to select an identity for the loco. After some research, 44198 of Corkerhill shed was selected as she fitted the ‘Glasgow South’ nature of Broomloan, but presumably worked to the south west of Scotland too on occasions.
Renumbering was straightforward using traditional ScR 10″ numerals and an early period crest on the tender to replace the late era emblem provided on the base model.
The rest was just paint and effects. There are still a couple of fine details and crew figures to be applied though I will probably wait until testing is complete before adding them.

Iain has been busy of late with this commission for the 77021 Loco Group.
Entitled ‘Ayr United’, it pictures a scene at the north end of Ayr Station in the early 1960s as two of Hurlford’s Standard 3MTs meet on passenger duties.
A limited number of prints are being produced and will be available to order shortly.

All these models are in 1960s finish, all in good condition and test run only so please respond if any are of interest.

I also have a set of Bachmann 4mm engine shed buildings available from my personal collection. This is the full set of coaling tower, ash plant, 4 road shed, water tank and lifting hoist with an extra bothy. I’m looking for £200 the lot which is a pretty good deal considering the price these things are new. All are in good condition with extra parts although the shed building has had two pillars knocked off. Not a difficult fix at all but it underlines the fragile nature of these models and for those reasons I would prefer these models to go where they can be handed over in person.
For the record I’ll be at Perth show next Saturday if it helps!